Monday, June 30, 2014

Three days after First Manassas, T J Jackson was nursing a wound to his hand rinsing it in cool spring water. He was approached by Captain J. D. Imboden who three days before had been upset with Jackson and uttered some profanity on the battle field.Attempting to give an apology he was stopped short by Jackson who said." Nothing can justify profanity"
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I'm not saying all folks from the south adhere to Jackson's statement.
Even I have been known to let a cuss word fly out. Usually it has something to do with traffic in my case.
And I am in the confines of my car. No one can hear me.
But as a general rule I and many others refrain from public displays of profanity.
In a back room poker game profanity is expected and used as a bluff many times.
But in a public setting I find it unacceptable / unnecessary.

I do see, more times than I should, Southern folks in comments sections on line using inappropriate language.
My buddy John Stone's put it this way -- " Cursing is the result of a weak mind, trying to be forceful"
I wish all Southerner's would take to heart General Jackson's statement " Nothing can justify profanity."
( yes even in poker games) The same applies to the northern friendly folks.

I was going to shine the light on one northern fellow in particular, but he would just love more attention, so I decided against it.

So what I'm saying is -- "let's all try to be a bit more respectful in our conduct and use something other than profanity". I'll do my part !

Monday, June 23, 2014

IN September 64, Jeff Davis was in Macon explaining that 2/3 of the soldiers were awol, from desertion or whatever, not just around GA, but he said the Army of Virginia had the same problem. Im always surprised this is not mentioned more. Davis said specifically that if just half those guys returned, the South could not lose.

Was he right? Apparently. If half of them returned, that would about double the men in the field! Hard to see how Grant gets through double the men, who would be man the earth works. — the slave built earth works, that for some reason, is also not talked about. According to Virginia newspapers in 1862, slaves were building the earthworks, each county had to send so many slaves to Richmond to build the earthworks. If you think the white soldiers dug them too, you don’t know much about black white relations, and what whites would do to avoid working along side a black man, or do the work of a black man While “historians” have tried to pass off Lee’s nick name “King of Spades” as jocular soldier thing — wrong, it was from NEWSPAPERS. Read Douglass Freeman carefully slippery language about this

Well my Great Grandfather built earthworks !The last paragraph in this letter from William H Tatum proves it !

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

HERITAGE VICTORY AT THE CITADEL!Confederate flag at Citadel protected under state law, AG says

The Post & Courier, Charleston June 10 2014

"The Confederate Naval Jack flag in Summerall Chapel at The Citadel is allowed under state law, the Attorney General's Office announced today.

"In our opinion, this flag would be protected in its present location by the Heritage Act as a 'monument' or 'memorial' erected on public property of the state," Solicitor General Robert D. Cook states in a letter to the two senators requesting the ruling.

"The General Assembly has mandated, by virtue of the Heritage Act, that monuments and memorials honoring the gallantry and sacrifice of this state's various wars are protected," Cook says.

"It is thus our opinion that the Flag referenced in your letter, the Confederate Battle Flag, placed in Summerall Hall in 1939 is protected by the Heritage Act," Cook says.

Charleston County Council member Henry Darby raised questions about the appropriateness of the flag in a house of worship on The Citadel campus.

Last week, County Council voted to delay disbursement of $975,000 in funding for the debt on Johnson Hagood Stadium renovations pending the outcome of the AG's opinion.

"It's time for us to move on. It's not a battle between the county and The Citadel. It's not our fight," said County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor.

Darby raised the issue at the request of constituents, Pryor said. Darby was not immediately available for comment.

Pryor said the college will receive the check for stadium renovations in the new budget starting in July."

The Citadel Veterans will not be dishonored! We join citizens across the country in thanking God for this key, decisive victory, but can't help but assume that the Confederate Battle flags at the Confederate Memorial Chapel in Richmond would have been protected, and the Battle Flags at General Lee's mausoleum at Washington & Lee University would not be in danger...if Virginia had a similar law...

Let's make a Virginia Heritage Act a priority for the next legislative session...and protect ALL of Virginia's history!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Wow it don't get much better than yesterday ( 5/31/14 )
About 10:00 am the VA Flagger's put up Flag # 2

About 1 hour north of Richmond !

( No tree problem )

This is just a few of the folks who share the credit.
Thanks FLAGGER'S

And at at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond

I got to Hollywood early and visited my ancestor William Henry Tatum

First Company Richmond Howitzers.

I spoke to him and thanked him for all he had done,

I also mentioned that many people were reading his letters and were learning from them.

A warm feeling came over me, as if he understood what I was saying.

I left him a Token of thanks and a new flag.

At 3:00 pm the Finest Ceremony I have ever attended began.

The wind presented a minor problem, but

Kelly Atkins Hinson who put the program together

Handled the situation with grace and diginity.

A true Southern Belle, God Bless Her.

My good friend John Stones also handled a situation with cool dedication.

Filling in for the preacher who was called away.

"What does it mean when a Baptist Preacher takes his watch off, looks at it and places it on the podium" ?

( ABSOLUTELY NOTHING )

All kidding aside Thank You John, you did a flawless job.

The Eulogy is at the bottom of this page **

Over 100 new Markers were dedicated.

This was one, John Stones G.G Grandfather

As the names were read a small bell was sounded.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.

I was happy to be there.

God bless all who put in so much effort to honor our ancestors.

**Eulogy from May 31, 2014 at Hollywood Cemetery dedication: Mark 14: 3-9We gather today as friends, compatriots, and descendants of Confederate soldiers, My Great,Great Grandfather - Private Thomas P. Darnall, Company F, Third SC Infantry - was thefirst to be located, this past Thanksgiving season, by the revitalized Southern Soldier Remembrance Foundation. My family had been searching for his burial place for years but had met nothing but frustration in our search because of a gross misspelling in the existing documentation after the War. Thank you Southern Soldiers Remembrance Foundation for bringing our search to an end and filling our hearts with joy after 151 years of my ancestor lying in an unmarked grave!The Scripture I chose for this occasion reminds us of the importance of memorials. The woman that anointed our Lord with the expensive oil will be remembered forever because of her actions in showing her reverence to our Lord. Without memorials we would never be reminded of the debt of gratitude we owe to those that stood for truth and went before us. Folks, it's up to us to make sure the next generation knows the truth! We cannot leave it to government schools because,all too often, "truth" to them changes with the political winds of the times. Gen. Patrick Cleburne stated it best on January 2, 1864:Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it istoo late... It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy;that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northernschoolbooks their version of the War: will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans asfit objects of derision.The task is ours to see to it that the truth of our heritage gets passed on to the generations that follow us!

The soldiers we gather to honour today fought for various reasons but the greatest among them was to defend hearth and home from a ruthless invader. They stood, 150 years ago, to defend the very principles their fathers had fought for in the American Revolution. They stood ready to give their all that those principles might be passed on to us and we must be willing - today - to stand and pass those truths on to those that come after us!

Allow me to close with the words of another South Carolinian, those of General Wade Hampton, spoken by him in Warrenton, VA on June 12, 1873:But while we accept our defeat with the consequences that legitimately follow it, it is our right to justify our cause, to vindicate our motives, to honour our dead. This is not only a right, but a sacred duty. We owe it to ourselves, our children, to those that diedin the effort to keep us free, that we should cling with unshaken fidelity to these principles which we believe to be true!